In Unalaska, rare birds brighten winter days

Unalaska is experiencing an exceptional showing of unusual birds this winter, and some of them are causing quite a stir!

In late fall, migrating songbirds heading south from Arctic and subarctic regions strayed into the Aleutians, and some stayed well into December. Sharp-eyed residents got a chance to see Yellow, Wilson's and Townsend's Warblers, rare but not unheard of in Unalaska, and an Orange-crowned Warbler, which was a first for the Aleutians. In early November, an American robin, also rare in the Aleutians, appeared on Strawberry Hill, followed by a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (second Aleutian record) and two Golden-crowned Kinglets (first Aleutian record). Bright and spunky, the kinglets soon found the old Sitka spruce trees planted around town, enchanting everyone who got to see them.

Not to be outshined by birds from the east, species from the west are also showing up in Unalaska this winter. Bramblings are delightful little finches with warm orange and black markings, whose normal range is from Scandinavia to Eastern Russia. Occasionally seen in the western Aleutians, they are very rare and exciting to see here. A single female is still among the small flock of passerines (perching birds) near Town Creek, taking shelter in the salmonberry bushes and feasting on sunflower seeds offered by local residents.

During winter, our mainstay passerines are large flocks of Gray-crowned Rosy-finches and Snow Buntings. On very rare occasions McKay's Buntings show up in a flock, and look startlingly white compared to Snow Buntings. Rarely even seen as far south as the Pribilofs, McKay's Buntings breed on St. Matthew and St. Lawrence Islands and winter south to Nunivak. This winter, McKay's have strayed far to the south, as they occasionally do, and we had one here a couple of weeks ago. Also around town are the resident Song Sparrows, streaked brown over a soft gray, and the tiny Common Redpolls, with black chins and a crimson cap. Dark-eyed Juncos are a casual winter visitor; we usually see one or two every few years. This winter at least a dozen showed up and seem to have settled in for a while. They are easily recognized by their dark 'hoods,' white bellies and white outer tail feathers. We've also had at least three Golden-crowned Sparrows in with this mixed flock.

Spectacled eiders are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Photo by Greg Balough/USFWS

Read on:  http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/unalaska-rare-birds-brighten-winter-days

85-year-old woman wields shovel to stop moose stomping

An agitated moose ran down and stomped a well-known Bush pilot from Willow, but he was saved when his wife grabbed a shovel from their pickup truck and whacked the big animal until it backed off.

George Murphy, 82, and his wife, Dorothea Taylor, 85, told the story of their recent moose encounter Sunday afternoon from Murphy's hospital room in Anchorage, where he is recovering from gashes to his head and left leg as well as seven broken ribs.

They were at the Willow Airport around 10:30 a.m. Friday running their golden retrievers as they do almost every day. They drive along the access road in their truck and let the dogs, Fellar and King Tut, run on ahead.

When it came time to round up the dogs, Murphy told Taylor she could wait in the truck.

"Sometimes both of us go and walk the old dog back," Taylor said. Fellar is 12 and moves slow. Tut, his son, is 3 and can run like the dickens. "But this time it was 30 below and just too darn cold out there."

Murphy was hiking back to the truck with Fellar when he saw the moose up the road. As he first told the story, he referred to the ungulate as a bull but when he thought about it later, decided it must have been a cow. No matter. It was big, and stressed.

"He was way off. Jeez, he spotted me and he started to come right after me. So I was trying to get to the truck. But I didn't make it," Murphy said.

At the airport, there were no trees to duck behind. Murphy dove into the deep snow for protection. And the moose came at him.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/22/2277726/wife-stops-moose-stomping-with.html?story_link=email_msg#storylink=cpy

George Murphy, 82, and his wife, Dorothea Taylor, 85, told the story of their recent moose encounter Sunday afternoon from Murphy's hospital room in Anchorage, where he is recovering from gashes to his head and left leg as well as seven broken ribs.

They were at the Willow Airport around 10:30 a.m. Friday running their golden retrievers as they do almost every day. They drive along the access road in their truck and let the dogs, Fellar and King Tut, run on ahead.

When it came time to round up the dogs, Murphy told Taylor she could wait in the truck.

"Sometimes both of us go and walk the old dog back," Taylor said. Fellar is 12 and moves slow. Tut, his son, is 3 and can run like the dickens. "But this time it was 30 below and just too darn cold out there."

Murphy was hiking back to the truck with Fellar when he saw the moose up the road. As he first told the story, he referred to the ungulate as a bull but when he thought about it later, decided it must have been a cow. No matter. It was big, and stressed.

"He was way off. Jeez, he spotted me and he started to come right after me. So I was trying to get to the truck. But I didn't make it," Murphy said.

At the airport, there were no trees to duck behind. Murphy dove into the deep snow for protection. And the moose came at him.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/22/2277726/wife-stops-moose-stomping-with.html?story_link=email_msg#storylink=cpy

Read more her"He started to stomp. Then he turned around and stomped again. And there was nothing I could do. I was afraid he was going to kill me."

"He started to stomp. Then he turned around and stomped again. And there was nothing I could do. I was afraid he was going to kill me."

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/22/2277726/wife-stops-moose-stomping-with.html?story_link=email_msg#storylink=cpy

97 POUNDS OF FURY

Murphy, a retired state construction engineer, flew for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race nearly three decades, stopping only a couple of years ago. He once was the chief pilot for the race. He's well known among both mushers and pilots as well as the news crews he carried to cover the race. He ran a flying service for a while and still has the 1948 Aeronica he bought back in 1966, when he first met Taylor in the then-new village of Port Lions, on Kodiak Island.

He and Taylor, a retired teacher, are both familiar with wild animals. They filled their freezer with moose and caribou until they gave up hunting a couple of years back. They've been married some 40 years.

From inside the truck, Taylor heard the dogs barking in alarm and jumped out to investigate. At 5 feet tall and 97 pounds, she is tiny but tough. Years ago, she shot and killed a trophy size brown bear on Kodiak Island. The mount is on the wall of the home they built on 8 acres in Willow.

She saw the moose rear up and strike at something on the ground with its front hooves. She didn't know that her husband was down or that the moose was stomping him. She couldn't see him in the snow.

Tut was at the moose's rear, barking and trying to nip its back legs. Fellar was standing near the moose's front, barking like crazy too.

"I thought he was trying to kill Fellar, the old dog," Taylor said.

Still unaware of the danger her husband was in, she yelled for him to come help her with the dogs.

On instinct, she ran to where the action was. "And the moose started after me."

A HANDY TOOL

Taylor raced back to the truck but instead of jumping in for safety, she released the tailgate to look for something she could use. She grabbed a big grain shovel that they keep on hand to dig out if the truck gets stuck.

She walked back to the moose, making a racket with the shovel on the road, where the snow was hard-packed. She kept shouting for her husband to get over there and help.

Taylor took a swing at the moose and it backed off a little, but then it reared up and stomped its target again. It didn't let up.

"So I kept hitting it some more," Taylor said. She swung mainly at the rump but said she got in at least one good lick to the head. She knew she was too close but what could she do? Finally, the moose turned away.

"When it turned and started to go off slowly, I hit it with everything I had," she said. Tut, the younger dog, took over and chased the moose away.

"Then I saw it wasn't Fellar the moose was after at all. He was striking over the top of Fellar, to get George."

Her husband was conscious and said he may have broken ribs. That was the least of it, she thought. Blood was spurting out of a deep crack in his head. The snow was crimson. She grabbed his Iditarod baseball cap, which had fallen off, and used it to try to stop the flow the blood.

She couldn't get her husband up so she got the dogs in the truck and then ran for help.

She checked her pockets for her cellphone but couldn't find it -- she forgot it was in her purse, back in the truck. She dashed to the hangar for Denali Flying Service and hoped the owners were there.

"I jerked the door open and called 'Help! Help!' " Barry Stanley came out and called 911.

Even then, Taylor thought her husband would die from the loss of blood. Anchorage was just too far away.

But help came in time. The Willow volunteer fire department got there and stabilized him. Murphy was then rushed by medical helicopter to Providence Alaska Medical Center.

'AT THE END OF THEIR ROPE'

It's hard to say what set the moose off. If it was a cow, there was no calf around that might have explained its behavior. Maybe a snowmachine harassed it. Maybe the dogs spooked it. It might just have been stressed from an especially harsh winter, with extreme cold temperatures and heavy snow.

"They don't actually have a heckuva lot to eat," Murphy said.

"And they don't have enough stamina," Taylor said.

"They're just at the end of their rope," Murphy said. "They'll just strike out at anything."

He is not upset with the moose. Neither is his wife. They don't want anyone to try to kill it. No one could be sure they got the right one, anyway.

How long did the attack last?

"Forever," Taylor said.

"Too long," Murphy added. Every time he thought it was over, the moose struck again. It had a scary look in its eyes.

Just as Taylor didn't know her husband was under attack, he didn't know his wife was fighting off the moose. Now that he's heard the story, he's sure it would have killed him without her quick action. Her effort was amazing, he said.

"Jeez, that was a pretty hard thing for anyone to do, to walk up on a moose like that. Heck, all she had was a shovel."

"Well, we've helped each other out of problems before. This just happened to be the latest," Taylor said.

Murphy spent hours in the emergency department and then a night and day in intensive care. They don't know how many stitches he got but the main gash to his head is at least 6 inches long. He has a big wound on his left leg, too. He can walk on his own and says he feels pretty good. He is officially in fair condition. Many pilots have popped in to see him or send wishes. He hopes to go home soon.

When he awoke in the ICU Saturday morning, he first thought the whole thing was one bad dream. Then he noticed the hospital ceiling and knew he wasn't home.

They still plan to run their dogs at the airport. "I'll probably have a revolver," Taylor said. Then she stopped herself. She doesn't want to needlessly kill a wild animal. She'll have to think more on that.

"We still like to have the moose around," Murphy said.

Still, next time he won't go as far from the truck.

http://www.adn.com/2012/01/22/2277726/wife-stops-moose-stomping-with.html?story_link=email_msg

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e: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/22/2277726/wife-stops-moose-stomping-with.html?story_link=email_msg#storylink=cpy

Alaska grizzlies targetted to boost moose and caribou hunts

Grizzlies targetted to increase moose and caribou hunts

November 2011. A report, written by 3 retired Alaskan Department of Game bear experts and a scientist from the US National Wildlife Federation, shows that Alaska has been quietly increasing the hunting of grizzlies in the hope that reducing grizzly numbers would lead to an increase in caribou and moose numbers. A license to hunt a caribou or moose costs $3-500 on average; Are the Alaskan Department of Game trying to increase their revenue on moose and caribou hunts by reducing grizzly numbers?

There is no science to show that if grizzly numbers are repressed then moose and caribou numbers will increase. And why not? Because since 2000, long-term research studies on grizzly populations in the Liberal Hunt Area have been terminated without replacement.

Hunting regulations for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in much of Alaska since 1980 increasingly were designed to reduce bear abundance in the expectation such regulations would lead to increased harvests by hunters of moose (Alces alces) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus). Regulations were liberalized during 1980-2010 primarily in the ‘Liberal Grizzly Bear Hunting Area' (or Liberal Hunt Area) which encompassed 76.2% of Alaska.

213% increase in Grizzly hunts
By 2010, these changes resulted in longer hunting seasons, more liberal bag limits, and widespread waiver of resident tag fees. During 1995-2010, there were 124 changes that made grizzly bear hunting regulations more liberal and two making them more conservative. The 4-year mean for grizzly bear kills by hunters increased 213% between 1976-1980 (387 grizzly bears) and 2005-2008 (823 grizzly bears).

Current grizzly bear management in the Liberal Hunt Area is inconsistent with the recommendations of the National Research Council's 1997 report on predator management in Alaska. Current attitudes, policies and absence of science-based management of grizzly bears in Alaska are increasingly similar to those that resulted in the near extirpation of grizzly bears south of Canada in the 19th and 20th centuries.

If current trends continue, they increase risks to portions of the largest and most intact population of grizzly bears in North America.

2011 The Wildlife Society. Read the full report.

Deadly skin-lesion disease hits Alaska's seals

Investigation into cause of outbreak
October 2011: The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries is working with a group of international wildlife researchers to find out what is causing a disease outbreak in Arctic seals, primarily in ringed seals. The disease is most visible as skin lesions.

Since July, the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management has responded to at least 107 cases of stranded ringed seals, mainly between Barrow and Wainwright. About 100 of those ringed seals appeared to have skin lesions, and nearly half of the animals were dead when found, or died shortly after.

More signs of serious illnessSimilar cases have been reported in Russia and Canada, and in walruses along the Arctic coast of Alaska. In October, European scientists documented similar cases in harp seals around Greenland. At this point it is not known if multiple species are affected by the same agent or whether these are all independent events.

Although abnormal hair loss has been under investigation in ringed seals for several years, this summer hunters and researchers started seeing more severe signs of illness as well as dead seals. Diseased ringed seals have exhibited hair loss, delayed molting, and skin ulcers. Some of the live diseased seals have exhibited lethargy and labored breathing. Findings from dead seals have shown significant lesions in the skin, respiratory system, liver, lymphoid system, heart, and brain.

Laboratory findings have been inconclusive to date, and scientists have not yet pinpointed a single cause of this disease. A group of international wildlife researchers continue to test for a wide range of possible factors, including: bacterial, viral, fungal, or toxic agents that may be responsible for the animals' condition.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/seal-disease.html

Salmon Run Up Dead Glacier

After a glacier retreated, an ecosystem was born in Stonefly Creek in Southeast Alaska, near Glacier Bay.

“Shrinking glaciers are changing large expanses of northerly coastlines. The speed and pattern of colonization across Stonefly Creek's watershed will aid our understanding of watershed restoration and conservation of biodiversity in a changing climate,” said Alexander Milner, lead researcher from the University of Birmingham in a press release.

The creek began to appear between 1976 and '79 as a glacier melted and revealed the creek's lower reaches. The birth and development of this new creek into a thriving ecosystem was recently described in the journal Ecology.

Read on...

Brooke Collins, Alaska Woman, Punches Bear To Save Dog

Talk about being able to throw a punch.

An Alaska woman hit a bear's snout so hard, it let go of the dog it was gnawing on -- her dog to be exact.

Brooke Collins, 22, said she had let her two dogs out on Sunday, when she heard her pooch Fudge barking.

She found a black bear holding the dachshund like a salmon, biting the back of its neck, according to the Juneau Empire.

Fearing for her dog's life, Collins went up to the bear and punched its snout until it let go of the animal. Collins' boyfriend then chased the bear until it disappeared into the bushes.

Collins said instincts got a hold of her.

"It was a stupid thing but I couldn't help it," she said. "I know you're not supposed to do that but I didn't want my dog to be killed," Collins told the Jeneau Empire.


Fudge's injuries were minor, and the dog seemed to be more shaken up than anything, The Associated Press reports.

Collins said there have been recent bear sightings in her neighborhood. The bear that attacked her dog even returned on Tuesday, she told Reuters.

The bears might be venturing into neighborhoods because they're hungry, Neil Barton, a biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told Reuters. Juneau's berry crop has been poor this year, and the berries are a big source of food for the animals, he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/01/brooke-collins-punches-bear-to-save-dog_n_945400.html#s348076&title=Woman_Punches_Bear

Walruses forsaking sea ice for sand

The spotting of huge herds of walruses over the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast again is, according to scientists at the US Geological Survey, an indication of climate change in the region --- since the walruses are clearly forsaking sea ice for sand.

A large herd of nearly 5,000 walruses were spotted on Wednesday by a contractor taking part in federal marine mammal aerial surveys over the Chukchi Sea; and, second herd of 3,000 walruses was found resting a short distance away.

Even though the number of walruses recently spotted was comparatively lesser than those spotted last September, the researchers are of the opinion that the behavior is a sign of lack of sufficient Arctic sea ice for the big, swimming mammals for use as resting platforms after deep dives searching for food.
It was in 2007 that several thousand walruses were first seen on Alaska's northwest shore. They returned in 2009; and, the numbers that they gathered in last year were unprecedented --- with more than 20,000 animals counted near Point Lay, an Eskimo village which lies 300 miles southwest of Barrow and 700 miles northwest of Anchorage.

Noting that the melting of sea ice in Arctic waters generally goes on through mid- to late September, Bruce Woods – a spokesman for the US Fish and Wildlife Service – said that the herds of walruses gathering on the northeast coast of Alaska will apparently continue to grow this time round.

http://topnews.net.nz/content/217839-walruses-forsaking-sea-ice-sand

Orange goo baffles remote Alaska village

The substance first washed up on the shores of Kivalina, about 625 miles northwest of Anchorage, on Wednesday. It covered most of the harbour, attracting crowds of bemused residents.

On Thursday residents found the orange matter floating on top of the rain buckets they use to collect drinking water.

By Friday, the orange substance in the harbour had dissipated or washed out to sea, and what was left on ground had dried to a powdery substance.

Samples of the orange matter were collected in canning jars and sent to a lab in Anchorage for analysis.

Until results are known, Kivalina's 374 residents will likely continue to wonder just what exactly happened in their village.

Kivalina, an Inupiat Inuit village, is located at the tip of an 8-mile barrier reef on Alaska's northwest coast, and is located between the Chukchi Sea and Kivalina River to the north and the Wulik River to the south.

Villagers have never seen anything like this before, and elders have never heard any stories passed down from earlier generations about an orange-coloured substance coming into town.

"This is the first for Kivalina, as far as I know," said 63-year-old Austin Swan.

Portions of the samples will also be sent to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lab in South Carolina for testing.

"There's a number of experts in the areas who can identify if it's an organic material, for example, and what species this is, or perhaps it's not an organic material, and we're going to determine that, as well," Hignutt said.

The Coast Guard already has ruled out that the orange material, which some people described as having a semi-solid feel to it, was man-made or a petroleum product.

That leaves algae as the best guess, said village administrator Janet Mitchell.

The concern is if it's somehow harmful. What will it do to fish, which villagers will soon start catching to stock up for winter, or the caribou currently being hunted, or the berries?

"We rely 100 per cent on subsistence," she said.

Swan helped collect some samples for testing, and waded out into the lagoon. He grabbed some of the substance in his gloved hand.

"It was really light, a powdery look to it, and it was just floating on there, all bunched up together," he said. "It looked like it could blow away very easily."

He said some of the material had a sheen to it, like it was oil.

"But I couldn't feel the oil at all, any texture at all."

When the material bunched up in the lagoon, it created 10 foot-by-100 foot swaths of glimmering orange.

"When the wind came in, it narrowed them to a few feet wide. The colour was a bright neon orange," said Frances Douglas.

"It pretty much covered the south end of the lagoon in streaks," she said of the attraction, which drew many residents.

"Pretty much, everybody was baffled," she said.

City personnel went to a pump house two miles away on the Wulik River, and found the material there, too. The village is also about 40 miles from the Red Dog zinc mine, but officials there assured the village the substance didn't come from them.

Since the substance was unknown, city officials cautioned residents to keep children away from the orange goo and for residents to boil their water before drinking it.

By Alastair Jamieson
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8685880/Orange-goo-baffles-remote-Alaska-village.html

Loch Ness monster-like beast filmed in Alaska

Cryptozoologists think mysterious marine animal in video is a Cadborosaurus

Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News

Alaska may have its own version of the Loch Ness monster, according to prominent cryptozoologists who say a video shows a mysterious marine animal, which they believe is a Cadborosaurus.

Meaning "reptile" or "lizard" from Cadboro Bay, Cadborosaurus willsi is an alleged sea serpent from the North Pacific and possibly other regions. Accounts generally describe it as having a long neck, a horse-like head, large eyes, and back bumps that stick out of the water.

The footage, shot by Alaskan fishermen in 2009, will make its public debut on "Hillstranded," a new Discovery Channel special that will air Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. E/P.

"I am quite impressed with the video," Paul LeBlond, former head of the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of British Columbia, told Discovery News. "Although it was shot under rainy circumstances in a bouncy ship, it's very genuine."

LeBlond, co-author of the book "Cadborosaurus: Survivor from the Deep," said the animal is "the least unlike a plesiosaur," referring to carnivorous marine reptiles thought to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Sightings of Cadborosaurus have been reported for ages. In 1937, a supposed body of the animal was found in the stomach of a whale captured by the Naden Harbour whaling station in the Queen Charlotte Islands, a British Columbia archipelago. Samples of the animal were brought to the Provincial Museum in Victoria, where curator Francis Kermode concluded they belonged to a fetal baleen whale.

The animal's remains, however, later disappeared. James Wakelun, a worker at the whaling station, last year said that he saw the creature's body and "it wasn't an unborn whale."

Like other cryptids — animals whose existence is suggested but not yet recognized by scientific consensus — Cadborosaurus has otherwise existed only in grainy photographs and eyewitness accounts. The 2009 video, therefore, "adds to its authentication," LeBlond said.

John Kirk, president of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, agrees. In an issued statement, Kirk described the video as being "important. They (the fishermen) simply don't know what they have got in terms of the creatures in this video."

While many have speculated that Cadborosaurus is actually a frill shark, a large eel, or some kind of fish, LeBlond counters that it cannot be a fish due to the way Cadborosaurus moves.

"It must be a mammal or a reptile, since it oscillates up and down in a vertical plain, which eliminates sideways-oscillating fish," he explained.

A possible new believer in Cadborosaurus is Andy Hillstrand of "Deadliest Catch" television show fame. He told Discovery News that he might have seen the enigmatic animal while filming "Hillstranded," a new Discovery Channel special debuting tonight that features the 2009 footage..

Hillstrand and his brother Johnathan traveled to sites in Alaska where Cadborosaurus has been spotted. Referring to one location, he said, "We saw a big, long white thing moving in the water. We chased it for about 20 minutes."

"Spray came out of its head," he continued. "It was definitely not a shark. A giant eel may be possible, but eels don't have humps that all move in unison. I've never seen anything like it before."

Hillstrand speculates that whales, following salmon, might be pushing the animals closer to shores and in the view of humans.

While he understands the controversy and skepticism over such sightings and claims, Hillstrand believes the many fishermen who have reported seeing the animal "are not a bunch of fruitcakes. These are people who are familiar with the local marine life."

In order for a cryptid to gain scientific credibility, more physical evidence must be obtained. LeBlond said, "We cannot go out in the ocean poking everywhere, but we are always on the lookout for new accounts."

Hillstrand, on the other hand, isn't ruling out another Cadborosaurus-related trip.

"We live in Alaska, so we might investigate Cadborosaurus again in future," he said. "We are always up for an adventure."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43801173/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Loch Ness monster-like beast filmed in Alaska

Loch Ness monster-like beast filmed in Alaska
Cryptozoologists think mysterious marine animal in video is a Cadborosaurus
By Jennifer Viegas

Alaska may have its own version of the Loch Ness monster, according to prominent cryptozoologists who say a video shows a mysterious marine animal, which they believe is a Cadborosaurus. Meaning "reptile" or "lizard" from Cadboro Bay, Cadborosaurus willsi is an alleged sea serpent from the North Pacific and possibly other regions. Accounts generally describe it as having a long neck, a horse-like head, large eyes, and back bumps that stick out of the water. The footage, shot by Alaskan fishermen in 2009, will make its public debut on "Hillstranded," a new Discovery Channel special that will air Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. E/P. "I am quite impressed with the video," Paul LeBlond, former head of the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of British Columbia, told Discovery News. "Although it was shot under rainy circumstances in a bouncy ship, it's very genuine."

Read rest see still from film here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43801173/ns/technology_and_science-science/

U.S. proposes calling two types of seals threatened

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Two types of seals should be granted protection under the Endangered Species Act because the Arctic ice and snow they depend on is vanishing due to climate change, a U.S. government agency said on Friday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration formally proposed threatened listings for ringed seals and bearded seals.

Both types of seals need floating sea ice, especially in late spring and early summer when they are caring for newborn pups. Ringed seals also need deep snowdrifts because pups are born in snow caves burrowed by mother seals, NOAA said.


The late-winter and springtime rains and early melts that are occurring with greater frequency in the Arctic limit snow cave formation and expose the newborns to dangers, NOAA officials said.

"The ringed and bearded seals are especially dependent on sea ice and snow cover," NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said.

The populations proposed for listing are concentrated in the Arctic and North Pacific waters off Alaska, where summer sea ice has been diminishing over the past decades, but range as far east as the north Atlantic and as far west as Siberia.

All the populations proposed for listing are in danger of going extinct in the foreseeable future, NOAA said.

Arctic sea ice cover this year dropped to the third lowest level since satellite records began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

SPECIES IN TROUBLE


If NOAA follows through with a formal listing, the seals will be the first Alaska animals granted Endangered Species Act protections because of climate change since polar bears were listed as threatened in 2008.

Speegle said NOAA's proposal was evidence that warming Arctic conditions were bad for more than just polar bears, adding, "I think it indicates that climate change is having an impact on the habitat here for a wide variety of species."

"We're seeing that all species in the Arctic are in trouble," said Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that sued to secure listing for the seals, polar bears and other animals.

The proposal, which came on a deadline established in a court settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and NOAA, was an important milestone, Noblin said. She noted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear.


"We're hoping that NOAA will make more of an effort to address the real threat to the seal species, which is greenhouse gas emissions," she said.

Following a 60-day public comment period on NOAA's listing proposal, the agency has a year to make a final determination.

There are other species dwelling in icy waters that federal scientists have determined are at risk.


The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposal to list the Pacific walrus as threatened and faces a January 31 deadline for a decision. NOAA in October listed two populations of ice-dwelling spotted seals as threatened, although both are outside the United States.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6B26PB20101203

U.S. proposes calling two types of seals threatened

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Two types of seals should be granted protection under the Endangered Species Act because the Arctic ice and snow they depend on is vanishing due to climate change, a U.S. government agency said on Friday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration formally proposed threatened listings for ringed seals and bearded seals.

Both types of seals need floating sea ice, especially in late spring and early summer when they are caring for newborn pups. Ringed seals also need deep snowdrifts because pups are born in snow caves burrowed by mother seals, NOAA said.


The late-winter and springtime rains and early melts that are occurring with greater frequency in the Arctic limit snow cave formation and expose the newborns to dangers, NOAA officials said.

"The ringed and bearded seals are especially dependent on sea ice and snow cover," NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said.

The populations proposed for listing are concentrated in the Arctic and North Pacific waters off Alaska, where summer sea ice has been diminishing over the past decades, but range as far east as the north Atlantic and as far west as Siberia.

All the populations proposed for listing are in danger of going extinct in the foreseeable future, NOAA said.

Arctic sea ice cover this year dropped to the third lowest level since satellite records began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

SPECIES IN TROUBLE


If NOAA follows through with a formal listing, the seals will be the first Alaska animals granted Endangered Species Act protections because of climate change since polar bears were listed as threatened in 2008.

Speegle said NOAA's proposal was evidence that warming Arctic conditions were bad for more than just polar bears, adding, "I think it indicates that climate change is having an impact on the habitat here for a wide variety of species."

"We're seeing that all species in the Arctic are in trouble," said Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that sued to secure listing for the seals, polar bears and other animals.

The proposal, which came on a deadline established in a court settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and NOAA, was an important milestone, Noblin said. She noted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear.


"We're hoping that NOAA will make more of an effort to address the real threat to the seal species, which is greenhouse gas emissions," she said.

Following a 60-day public comment period on NOAA's listing proposal, the agency has a year to make a final determination.

There are other species dwelling in icy waters that federal scientists have determined are at risk.


The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposal to list the Pacific walrus as threatened and faces a January 31 deadline for a decision. NOAA in October listed two populations of ice-dwelling spotted seals as threatened, although both are outside the United States.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6B26PB20101203

Alaska polar bears given 'critical habitat'

The US has designated a "critical habitat" for polar bears living on Alaska's disappearing sea ice.


The area - twice the size of the United Kingdom - has been set aside to help stave off the danger of extinction, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The territory includes locations where oil and gas companies want to drill.

Environmentalists hope the designation will make it more difficult for companies to get permits to operate in the region.

"This critical habitat designation enables us to work with federal partners to ensure their actions within its boundaries do not harm polar bear populations," said Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks.

Any proposed economic activity in the area, which covers 187,000 sq miles (almost 500,000 sq km) must now be weighed against its impact on the polar bear population, Mr Strickland said in a statement.

Most of the designated habitat is sea ice and includes some of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, where the oil company Shell wants to drill.

Shell was due to start drilling in the Arctic earlier this year, until the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico brought the plans to a temporary halt. It is now aiming to start drilling in 2011.

Environmentalists welcomed the move.

"Now we need the Obama administration to actually make it mean something so we can write the bear's recovery plan - not its obituary," said Kassie Siegel from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Ms Siegel urged the US government to impose a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in bear habitat areas.

Environmentalists also want the polar bear to be listed as an endangered species. Currently the US interior department describes them as "threatened" or likely to become endangered because the sea ice on which they live and hunt is melting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11836156

Alaska polar bears given 'critical habitat'

The US has designated a "critical habitat" for polar bears living on Alaska's disappearing sea ice.


The area - twice the size of the United Kingdom - has been set aside to help stave off the danger of extinction, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The territory includes locations where oil and gas companies want to drill.

Environmentalists hope the designation will make it more difficult for companies to get permits to operate in the region.

"This critical habitat designation enables us to work with federal partners to ensure their actions within its boundaries do not harm polar bear populations," said Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks.

Any proposed economic activity in the area, which covers 187,000 sq miles (almost 500,000 sq km) must now be weighed against its impact on the polar bear population, Mr Strickland said in a statement.

Most of the designated habitat is sea ice and includes some of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, where the oil company Shell wants to drill.

Shell was due to start drilling in the Arctic earlier this year, until the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico brought the plans to a temporary halt. It is now aiming to start drilling in 2011.

Environmentalists welcomed the move.

"Now we need the Obama administration to actually make it mean something so we can write the bear's recovery plan - not its obituary," said Kassie Siegel from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Ms Siegel urged the US government to impose a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in bear habitat areas.

Environmentalists also want the polar bear to be listed as an endangered species. Currently the US interior department describes them as "threatened" or likely to become endangered because the sea ice on which they live and hunt is melting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11836156